Stocking for a 20 High

[CharlieR]

Hi everyone. I've got a 20 gallon high aquarium sitting in my garage. It originally housed a gecko, but now it's empty. The tank measures 24x12x16. I know that tall tanks can't support as many fish as a wider tank of equal size, but if I was hoping to turn it into a small planted community. Could the tank support a school of cory cats and a school of emperor or black neon tetras. And if so, how many of each? Any advice or suggestions on how to get this tank going would be appreciated. Thank you

[talldutchie]

Start with this

Drag it out, wipe the worst dirt of it. Fill it with water and let it stand for 48 hours to make sure it's still watertight.

In the mean time.. see if you can find out if you have hard or soft water. Do you have lights with the tank?

Your tank doesn't offer that much swimming space but black neons could be done, 10 max I'd say. The cories will do best on sand. 10-12 of the dwarf species or 6 of a medium sized species like Corydoras trilineatus. Cories really do best on sand like pool filter sand. I'd advice you to run the tank not too hot, say 23-24C.

Oh, and of course, read up on a fishless cycle, there's some stickies on the top of the forum.

[CharlieR]

All right thanks for the quick reply. All I have is the tank so I need to go out and buy a hood, lights, etc. I've been reading about the fish less cycle for a while and so far it seems pretty simple. I have hard water, but I'm gonna try to find some ways to make it softer. I'm also going to plant it so I'm gonna have to find out what equipment is necessary to provide them with good growing conditions. Thanks again for the help.

[talldutchie]

There's been some discussions on cheap substrates recently over in the plant section. Might wanna have a look.

I've never been too keen on softening chemicals myself, I prefer to use rainwater. I'd rather acclimatise the fish to the harder water or start a small shell dweller aquarium.

[CharlieR]

The tank is filled up with water and so far so good. I'm going to start getting the equipment in the next couple of days. I'm getting this canopy from petsmart: http://www.petco.com/product/7394/Aq...n%20Black-7394. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good bulb for it? It comes with one already, but I'm not sure if it would be the best for growing plants. I'm also a little confused on what type of filter to get so any help is appreciated. For substrate I am using ACE pool filter sand. I've been looking around on the forum and many people had good things to say about it. Would any fertilizers be needed to grow plants? Thank you for all of the help so far

[KingFisher]

With that hood, you will be limited to a few low light plants. I like to use glass tops and a T5 light fixture for planted tanks as it allows for a lot more possibilities. I would get an Aquaclear 50 for that size tank. The amount of fertilizers required would be based on the light level and the types of plants. A low tech low light setup would require very little.

I'm not a fan of trying to adjust water hardness or Ph. It is much easier to work with what you have.